Do you believe your eyes, or do you believe a lying defendant?" Prosecutor Vince Paciera

A New Orleans man whose criminal history already was littered with seven felonies over two decades was convicted of two more Thursday. A Jefferson Parish jury found Sean "Jigger" Griffin guilty of killing a Robert man during a dispute over drug debt in Old Jefferson and of attempted possession of a gun by a convicted felon.

Griffin, 37, faces mandatory life in prison for second-degree murder of Douglas Crayton, 24, whose last moments of life were recorded by video surveillance cameras mounted on back of a Jefferson Highway bar. Griffin shot Crayton once on Aug. 27, 2011, during the scuffle in a parking lot in the 1000 block of Jefferson Highway, near Barry Avenue.

Crayton and his girlfriend, Tiffany Noel, went there to buy drugs from Griffin. Griffin accosted her over money owed for a previous marijuana sale, according to one version of events. Griffin started beating Noel. That's when Crayton went to help her.

Griffin brandished a pistol and eventually shot Crayton. Griffin said it was Crayton's gun, and that he was defending himself.

"I don't think he left me no choice," Griffin testified Wednesday in response to questioning by his public defender, Andy Duffy.

Prosecutors Vince Paciera and Seth Shute said the video recording of the shooting shows that Griffin -- not Crayton -- was the aggressor. "Do you believe your eyes, or do you believe a lying defendant?" Paciera told jurors in closing argument.

Jurors wrangled over the question about three hours before returning with 11-1 guilty verdicts on both charges. Judge Ross LaDart of the 24th Judicial District Court will sentence Griffin on June 24.

Griffin testified he was sitting on the toilet at a friend's apartment on Barry Avenue when he heard someone in the other room. He called out and heard someone rush to leave. After finishing in the bathroom, he discovered $75 was missing from his wallet, he testified.

He said he went to the parking lot to confront Noel. "I grabbed her hair, and I smacked her," he testified. "I smacked her a few more times and asked her where my money was.

Griffin said he was "begging and pleading" for his life before he "hit the gun" out of Crayton's hand. The gun fell into the parking lot.

That nitial altercation did not happen in view of the video cameras. What happened next, however, was recorded.

Noel is first seen running to and getting in a pickup truck whose driver was leaving. Then Crayton entered the field of view, seemingly running toward the pickup, followed by Griffin and a third man, Freddie Williams, a mutual friend.

Griffin is seen picking up the pistol. Williams stood between the two men and tried to defuse the dispute. Griffin pointed the gun at Crayton, took two steps forward and shot him.

Crayton did not appear to move toward the gun and, in fact, was stepping backward and put his arms up defensively when he was shot. "He makes no threatening gestures," Shute said in narrating the video for jurors Thursday. "He makes no move toward the gun."

The bullet ripped through one of Crayton's forearms and entered his torso. He fell to the ground, and Griffin appeared to turn around calmly and walk away. Williams and others went to Crayton's side.

Duffy, Griffin's attorney, argued Thursday the gun belonged to Crayton, who, ccording to toxicology tests, was high on cocaine when he died. That, Duffy said, made Crayton aggressive. "We know he was high. We know he was charged up," Duffy said.

Admitting he was high on heroin as the events unfolded, Williams testified this week that he did not see who brandished the pistol first during the off-camera altercation. But he said he saw Griffin, with the gun, tell Crayton, "I'm going to shoot you." Another witness, Tiffany Frey, was murdered in her Barry Avenue apartment months later.

Griffin said he dropped the gun and fled upon learning the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office was notified. He said Williams called out, "'Run, they going to kill you.' I dropped the gun, and I ran," Griffin testified.

According to the video recordings, Griffin did not drop anything and only walked away. He was arrested in New Orleans by a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force on Sept. 7, 2011.

In an interview, he never said anything about $75 being stolen, but, rather, said he had loaned Crayton and Noel money and wanted it back, Sheriff's Office detective Donald Zanotelli testified.

Griffin was barred from possessing guns because of his felony convictions in state and federal courts dating to 1993. Most were cocaine and marijuana charges, to which he pleaded guilty, he said. "I served my debt to society," Griffin testified.